Chapter 2 — The Man Behind the Interviews
2071 Words
For a few seconds, Vanya forgot that she was standing in the middle of the reception area.
Her fingers were still resting lightly against the edge of the reception desk, her new identification card held between them, but her attention had completely abandoned everything else. The conversations that had been taking place around her, the soft ringing of phones, the occasional footsteps across the polished marble floor—all of it seemed to have faded into the background.
There was only one thing she could see.
Him.
Aryavansh Suryavanshi.
The name that had appeared countless times on business articles, interview clips, company reports and professional magazines. The man whose interviews she had watched whenever she felt uncertain about herself. The man whose words had somehow become a strange source of confidence for her during the most difficult moments of her internship.
And now he was standing only a few metres away from her.
In real life.
Vanya blinked once.
Then again.
Okay. Breathe.
She quickly lowered her gaze toward the ID card in her hand, pretending to examine it as though it contained the most fascinating information she had ever seen.
She could feel the embarrassment slowly creeping up her face.
I was staring.
She had actually been staring.
At her role model.
At Aryavansh Suryavanshi.
And judging by how long she had been standing there without moving, she was quite certain that if someone had asked her what she had been doing for the past few seconds, she wouldn't have been able to come up with a convincing answer.
She straightened herself almost immediately, adjusting the strap of her handbag over her shoulder and taking a quiet breath.
She had not come all the way to London to stand at the reception like a schoolgirl who had just seen her favourite celebrity.
She was here because she had earned this opportunity.
That thought steadied her.
At least, a little.
Aryavansh continued walking through the reception area with the same composed presence she had seen in his interviews. There was no unnecessary movement in him, no hurried steps, no need to demand attention. Somehow, attention simply followed him.
People who had been speaking a moment earlier lowered their voices. A few employees greeted him as he passed, their expressions becoming noticeably more formal. Some simply moved aside, giving him space without being asked.
Vanya noticed all of it.
She had seen this side of him through screens before.
But seeing it happen around her was different.
Much different.
During his interviews, she had always admired the way he spoke. He never seemed to search for words. He answered difficult questions without losing his composure, spoke about business as though every problem already had a solution waiting somewhere, and carried himself with a confidence that never seemed forced.
That confidence had helped her more than he would ever know.
There had been nights during her internship when she had stared at a problem for hours, convinced that she wasn't capable enough to solve it. On some of those nights, instead of giving up, she had opened one of his interviews.
Not because she expected him to magically give her the answer.
But because listening to him speak had always reminded her of one simple thing.
Think before you decide that you can't.
She had carried that thought with her.
And perhaps that was one of the reasons she had managed to come this far.
Yet the man walking past her now was no longer a person inside a screen.
He was real.
And somehow, that made her admiration feel different.
Vanya's eyes followed him for one last second before she forced herself to look away.
She didn't notice the receptionist watching her with a faintly amused expression.
“Ms. Vanya?”
Vanya immediately turned back.
“Yes?”
The receptionist smiled politely.
“You can wait over there. Mr. Zyan will come and take you.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Vanya nodded quickly.
“Thank you.”
She stepped away from the reception desk and walked toward the waiting area, trying very hard to behave as though nothing unusual had just happened.
She sat down on one of the chairs and placed her handbag beside her.
For the next few minutes, she attempted to focus on her surroundings.
It didn't work.
Her mind kept going back to the same thought.
That's Aryavansh Suryavanshi.
She smiled to herself before immediately shaking her head.
“Vanya,” she whispered under her breath, almost scolding herself. “Get a grip.”
She took out her phone, checked the time, and then put it back into her bag.
A few minutes later, a young man approached her.
“Vanya?”
She looked up.
The man standing before her looked considerably younger than she had expected when she heard the words project head. He appeared to be around twenty-five, dressed formally but without the intimidating seriousness she had seen on most senior employees around the building.
“Yes?”
He extended his hand.
“Zyan.”
Vanya stood immediately and shook his hand.
“Vanya.”
“I know.” He smiled. “I've been waiting for you.”
That made her laugh softly.
“Hopefully that's a good thing.”
“It is,” he replied. “And don't worry. I'm not here to interrogate you on your first day.”
Vanya smiled.
“That's reassuring.”
“Come on. I'll show you around.”
As they began walking, the tension she had been carrying since she entered the building slowly started to disappear.
Zyan explained the different sections of the London headquarters as they walked. He introduced her to people from the technology team, project management team, product division and several other departments connected to the project she would be handling.
The building was much larger than the branch office in India.
Everything seemed to move with a certain rhythm.
People walked quickly but never looked lost. Conversations happened in meeting rooms behind glass walls. Screens displayed project dashboards and performance reports. Employees moved between departments with laptops tucked beneath their arms and coffee cups in their hands.
Vanya listened carefully, asking questions whenever something caught her attention.
And Zyan noticed.
“You ask a lot of questions.”
Vanya looked at him.
“Is that a problem?”
“No.” He laughed. “Actually, it's probably a good thing.”
“I don't like pretending that I understand something when I don't.”
“Then you'll fit in perfectly here.”
She smiled.
By the time they reached her department, their conversation had already moved far beyond formal introductions.
Zyan explained the project structure, the people involved, the workflow and the responsibilities that would eventually fall under Vanya's role.
He didn't speak to her like she was merely a fresher.
He spoke to her like someone who had already earned her place there.
And that mattered.
Because Vanya had been nervous about coming to London.
Not because she doubted her ability completely, but because she knew how different everything would be.
A different country.
A different office.
Different people.
Different expectations.
Having someone like Zyan make the first few hours easier was something she hadn't expected.
By the time the tour ended, Vanya was already comfortable enough to tease him.
“So you're telling me I'm supposed to remember all these departments on my first day?”
Zyan looked at her seriously.
“Yes.”
Vanya stared at him.
“Seriously?”
He held the expression for another second before breaking into laughter.
“No. You'll forget half of them by tomorrow.”
Vanya laughed along with him.
“Thank God.”
That was how easily it happened.
A conversation that had started with a simple introduction slowly became familiarity.
And without either of them realizing it, Vanya had found her first friend in London.
But the comfortable feeling didn't last for long.
As they walked back toward the project area, Zyan stopped beside a glass-walled meeting room.
“This is where most of the senior reviews happen,” he explained.
Vanya nodded.
Her eyes moved across the room.
“And the final project reviews?”
Zyan glanced at her.
“They go through Aryavansh.”
The name alone was enough.
Vanya's expression changed before she could stop it.
“Aryavansh?”
Zyan nodded casually.
“Yeah. He's directly involved in this project.”
For a moment, Vanya simply stared at him.
The confidence she had gathered during the tour disappeared somewhere between one heartbeat and the next.
She looked toward the meeting room again.
Of course.
Of all the projects in the entire company, she had to end up working on one that was directly connected to him.
She swallowed quietly.
“Is that... normal?” she asked.
Zyan raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“For him to personally review projects?”
“Depends on the project.”
“Oh.”
Vanya nodded, pretending that information hadn't affected her at all.
Zyan gave her a knowing look.
“You look nervous.”
“I'm not.”
“You definitely are.”
“I just don't want to mess up.”
That answer came honestly.
Zyan's expression softened.
“You won't. They brought you here because you solved something the team couldn't.”
Vanya looked at him.
His words reminded her why she was here in the first place.
Not because of Aryavansh.
Not because of London.
Not because of the prestige attached to Westmere.
Because she had earned this.
She took a quiet breath.
“Right.”
“Right,” Zyan repeated with a smile. “Now come on. You've got work to do.”
Vanya nodded and followed him.
She had barely settled into her new workspace when she heard voices approaching from the corridor.
She looked up without thinking.
And then she froze.
Aryavansh was walking toward them.
This time, there was no reception desk between them.
No distance.
No crowd to hide behind.
He stopped near the project area, speaking briefly with one of the senior members before his gaze moved across the room.
Vanya suddenly became painfully aware of everything.
The way she was sitting.
The position of her hands.
The ID card hanging around her neck.
Even the fact that she had been looking at him.
She immediately straightened in her chair.
Zyan noticed.
But before he could say anything, Aryavansh's attention settled on her.
For the first time, they stood directly in front of each other.
Vanya tried not to let her nervousness show.
“Sir,” she said quietly.
Aryavansh gave a slight nod.
“You're Vanya.”
It wasn't a question.
“Yes, sir.”
“I've been informed about your work in India.”
Her heartbeat seemed to become louder.
“Thank you, sir.”
His expression remained unreadable.
“Your previous solution was impressive.”
Vanya didn't know what to say to that.
She had imagined meeting him countless times while watching his interviews.
She had imagined what she might say if she ever got the chance.
But none of those imaginary conversations had prepared her for this.
“I'm glad it was useful,” she finally replied.
There was a brief silence.
Then Aryavansh looked toward the project documents on her desk.
“Make sure the London team has everything they need from you.”
“Yes, sir.”
He gave another small nod.
“Good.”
And just like that, the conversation ended.
He turned and walked away.
Vanya remained still for a moment.
She looked down at the documents in front of her, but the words refused to make sense.
That had been it.
A few sentences.
Nothing more.
Nothing special.
Nothing that should have affected her this much.
Yet somehow, her mind had already begun replaying every word.
Your previous solution was impressive.
She smiled faintly.
The man whose interviews had once given her confidence had just acknowledged her work in person.
That alone was enough to make her day.
But somewhere beneath that excitement was another feeling—something unfamiliar, something she couldn't quite name yet.
Vanya looked toward the corridor where Aryavansh had disappeared.
She had come to London believing this was the beginning of her professional journey.
Perhaps it was.
But for reasons she couldn't yet understand, she had a feeling that London was going to change much more than just her career.
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